Helping Babies Survive Training of Trainers (HBS TOT)

As part of the Scaling Up Safer Birth Bundle Through Quality Improvement in Nepal (SUSTAIN) project, the four-day Training of Trainers (TOT) in Helping Babies Survive (HBS) was conducted in two batches, including 7 different hospitals. The first batch was conducted at Hotel City Palace, Nepalgunj from 20-23 June 2019 and the second batch was conducted at Hotel Red Karpet, Bharatpur from 6-9 August 2019. The training was organised by National Health Training Centre (NHTC) in partnership with Golden Community (GC) and Nepal Paediatric Society (NEPAS). The HBS training program, developed jointly by NHTC, GC and NEPAS includes four different modules – Essential Care for Every Newborn, Care of Small Babies, Helping Babies Breathe (second edition) and Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA). Three different packages have been developed – Participant Handbook, Reference Manual and Trainer’s Guide, which are all in Nepali and have been endorsed by NHTC.

The hospitals included were Koshi Hospital, Janakpur Zonal Hospital, Bharatpur Hospital, Lumbini Provincial Hospital, Bheri Hospital, Karnali Province Hospital and Dadeldhura Hospital. There were all together 33 participants, which included Paediatricians, Gynaecologists/Obstetricians, Medical Officers, Nursing Chiefs, Maternity and Sick Newborn Care Unit In-Charges and nursing staffs working in the maternity and sick newborn care units.

The SUSTAIN project is aimed at reducing stillbirths and first-day mortality through a set of quality improvement interventions aimed at capacitating healthcare workers in the hospitals through newborn focussed trainings and technological support for improved service delivery. As part of the capacity building, the training programme is crucial in developing the skills and knowledge among the healthcare workers. The TOT is the first step towards developing trainers from within the hospitals, who can train their colleagues (healthcare workers in the maternity and sick newborn care units, including consultant doctors, medical officers and nursing staffs) and also lead the interventions in the hospitals.

The four-day TOT is crucial in developing the necessary skills and knowledge through theoretical sessions, practical-based sessions including demonstrations, simulations and group work approach. Based on adult learning approach, the training programme has been successful in developing new cadres and who will facilitate the quality improvement interventions in the hospitals. This will be followed by orientation of key stakeholders, bottleneck analysis workshop and hospital-based training for all healthcare workers in the maternity and sick newborn care units.